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Britain claim last semi-final place at IHF Emerging Nations Championship

Britain claimed the last semi-final spot at the International Handball Federation (IHF) Emerging Nations Championship thanks to a 27-23 victory over Colombia.

Colombia, China and Britain went into the final day of the group stage with a chance of reaching the last four alongside Cuba, Georgia and Bulgaria.

Britain, with three wins from their first four games, had matters in their own hands and made sure they took advantage with a comfortable win at Tbilisi Sports Palace.

Following a tight opening 20 minutes, with Britain leading by one goal and reliant on a string of saves from goalkeeper Owen Insou, they applied the afterburners and scored a string of goals to lead 13-8 at halftime.

With Insou watertight at one end, tournament top scorer Sebastian Edgar could express himself at the other – he bagged another 10 against Colombia to increase to 51 goals from five matches his tournament total.

Britain face Georgia in the semi-finals on Friday (June 15) after the hosts impressively maintained their 100 per cent record with a 35-19 victory over Bulgaria.

Both sides had already booked their semi-final spots after winning their first four games in Group B, but what had been billed as the match of the tournament was effectively over by halftime as Georgia raced to a 19-11 advantage before extending their lead in the second half.

For Georgia it was a show of team strength as 12 different players got on the scoresheet, Giorgi Tskhovrebadze the top scorer with seven.

Bulgaria, meanwhile, must regroup in time to face another unbeaten side in the semi-finals, as Cuba completed Group A with five wins after seeing off India 40-29.

Cuba coach Luis Enrique Delisle Sese named a second-string side to keep his main men fresh and they still had little trouble beating an Indian side who have lost all five group matches.

India kept pace early on with the score 9-9 after 18 minutes, but the Cubans soon found their feet and after leading 19-12 at halftime, extended their advantage after the break, Fredy Lafortan their top scorer with nine.

The other game in Group A saw China defeat Azerbaijan 35-26, putting the Chinese into the 5th-8th-place playoffs, while their opponents will take part in the 9th-12th place games.

In Group B, Ireland picked up their first win of the tournament with a 41-23 victory over Malta, while United States defeated Nigeria 38-24 in the late game.

The US face Colombia in the fifth-place bracket while China face Nigeria.

Azerbaijan versus Malta and Ireland against India are the ninth-place matches.

All semi-finals take place on Saturday (June 15), ahead of the finals the following day.

About the author

Matthew Smith obtained a masters degree in Print Journalism from the University of Sheffield before becoming a news reporter for the Enfield Independent in North London, while also covering Tottenham Hotspur football matches and other local sports. He joined the Daily Mail and Mail Online as a digital sports reporter in October 2016, and in 2017 was nominated for the NCTJ Award for Excellence in the trainee sports journalism category. He joined insidethegames.biz in May 2019.

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Fact of the day

At the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Iranian judoka Arash Miresmaeili was disqualified for weighing in at nearly four pounds above the limit for his weight class of his under-66 kilograms match against an Israeli opponent Ehud Vaks in the first round. It was claimed Miresmaeili had gone on an eating binge to protest the International Olympic Committee's recognition of the state of Israel. Iran does not recognise the state of Israel, and Miresmaeili's actions won praise from high-ranking Iranian officials. Mohammad Khatami, the country's President at the time, was quoted as saying Miresmaili's actions would be "recorded in the history of Iranian glories". He was later awarded $125,000 by the Government - the same amount given to Olympic gold medallists.

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